


river rush chronicles

by embraidery



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types
Genre: Gathering Stories, Gen, Golden Age (Narnia), Talking Animals, Worldbuilding, warfare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26184862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embraidery/pseuds/embraidery
Summary: Queen Lucy goes on a mission to learn how the Talking Beasts fight their battles and ends up with some stories she hadn't expected.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 17
Collections: Narnia Fic Exchange 2020





	river rush chronicles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nasimwrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nasimwrites/gifts).



> Happy Narnia Fic Exchange! I hope you enjoy =)

"--and I was just about ready to leap into the fray, ears bristlin' and teeth bared, when a mighty big stone came whistlin' our way! Other rabbits couldna thrown that, they must have gotten the giants on their side, but how, I have no bloomin' idea! Takes a lot to bribe a giant, in my humble experience, y'see. One time I asked one to get the berries from the top of the bush for me missus and he wouldn't do it for love nor money. Me cousin--"

"Mmm...what were you saying about the stone whistlin' towards you?" Beechleaf interjected.

The rabbit's ears pricked up. "Oh yes! The stone was whistlin' towards us! I had no time to think. I just leapt on top of ol' Paddy, he was me best man at me wedding, y'see, we've been friends since we was kits, practically brothers--"

"The stone?" Beechleaf prompted.

"Ah, the stone! I reckon I saved his life, y'know, pushin' him out the way. I lost my leg and my tail!" The rabbit propped his wooden leg up on the table, knocking over Lucy's inkbottle. The flood of ink drenched her pages of notes.

Lucy and Beechleaf exchanged tired glances. 

"Thank you for your story," Beechleaf said, inclining her graceful head. "I hope your wooden leg doesn't pain you overmuch!"

"Yes, thank you," Lucy said, picking up her notes. The ink had ruined the top two pages of notes from their interviews on talking beast warfare. The rest of them would be fine. She set aside the ruined pages to dry. Wiping her fingers on her blotter didn’t do much to clean her ink-stained fingers.

"You're very welcome!" the rabbit exclaimed. He swung his wooden leg down onto the ground and walked away with a flourish of his little hat.

Beechleaf opened her mouth to call the next talking animal over. Lucy stopped her with a gentle hand on the doe's shoulder.

"I can’t listen to any more of these today," Lucy murmured, leaning close to Beechleaf so the waiting animals wouldn't hear. 

"Very well, my lady," Beechleaf agreed. She raised her voice and said, "Her Majesty is not taking any more stories at present, but you may come back tomorrow!"

Lucy wanted to groan, but she smiled and waved at the long queue. "I will see you all tomorrow!"

When they were finally done, Lucy and Beechleaf went back to the command tent. It had been full of people and animals this morning, but now Lucy and Beechleaf were alone. Lucy sank into one of the chairs and covered her eyes with both hands. 

She was on a mission, assigned by her siblings and their advisors, to learn how talking beasts conducted their skirmishes and wars. The Kings and Queens hoped this would help them better prepare for any future wars and to maximise the resources at their disposal. Lucy had been on the banks of the River Rush for a few days. She and Beechleaf heard stories from representatives from all the species that they could persuade to come. It had also served two other purposes: it was an opportunity to take an informal census, and to make sure that the talking beasts were settling back into normal life after the Battle of Beruna. 

While Peter and Susan remained at Cair Paravel, Edmund had come with Lucy to get a hands-on sense of the animals’ strengths and weaknesses. He also taught fencing to any creature who could hold a sword. He came in just then, helmet dangling from one hand, sword from the other. 

"Any luck?" He set the helmet on the long oaken table and ran one hand through his sweat-soaked hair.

When Lucy didn't immediately respond, Beechleaf replied, "We had quite a few takers. Yet we have had little luck when it comes to the content of their stories."

One of the first animals they'd interviewed that morning was an old, stooped scholar in a tweed suit. He told them of the badgers' battles in a way that reminded Lucy of droning lectures on the Great War back in England. Most of the following creatures had related personal stories. In the case that they lacked any real information, they shared snippets of squabbles they'd had with neighbours. Lucy told Edmund about one elderly heron who had shared her story that morning.

"My boys were always getting into spats with the other chicks," the heron sighed. “They'd come home with their feathers all ruffled and chips in their beaks. I saw them at it one time and it was all wings, feathers flying everywhere! I ran out there to scare the other birds away and they flipped me the human. Chicks these days!" She mournfully shook her head, long beak swaying from side to side. "My boys said they said something rude about me, but they wouldn't say what."

Beechleaf shifted her weight from one hoof to the other. "Could you tell us more about how they fought?"

The heron cocked her head as she thought back to that day. "They liked to hop into the air so they could really use their wings. They’d slap at each other, mostly, but they’d also use their beaks to--what is it you humans say? They’d try to stab each other with their beaks, though they rarely succeeded."

"Right. Well, we appreciate you sharing your story with us," Beechleaf said.

The heron ruffled her wing feathers and stood up to her full height. "You are very welcome."

Lucy sighed and flopped back into her chair as she finished telling the story about the heron. “I don’t know how much more I can take!”

Edmund laughed. “They all just want to be in the spotlight. We can’t blame them for that.”

While most of the individual stories weren't helpful, Lucy was eventually able to piece together what fighting was like for the talking animals. Most of their skirmishes were unorganised, with a mere handful of creatures on each side. They rarely used weapons. Most of the smaller animals avoided fighting the creatures who could use swords and spears. All in all, though, they were generally peaceful. The war against Jadis had largely been improvised.

At least the trip wasn't entirely for nought. Beechleaf was a wonderful companion, if overly formal. In the evenings they'd sit by the River Rush and let the soft summer breeze waft over them, watching otters and ducks play in the water, silver drops splashing up into the air. 

"They mean well," Beechleaf said on one of those evenings. She tucked her long legs beneath her as she settled onto the grass.

Lucy sat down next to her. "They're so funny, aren't they?" She ran one hand through her hair, loosening it from its updo and letting it fall around her shoulders.

"Perhaps it's the nature of any creature who wants to tell a story about strife," Beechleaf mused.

"Do you have any stories?"

"I witnessed the war against the Witch, when she first arrived in Narnia. We put up a good fight, but we had never had a common enemy before. We did not know what to do."

"You tried to fight her?"

Beechleaf nodded. "We waited and watched until we knew her plans. We rushed her castle, but it was very well-defended. We retreated. By the time we were prepared to mount another attack, she had already allied herself with the creatures of the night. There was no hope -- or so we thought." Beechleaf couldn’t easily smile, but her brown eyes twinkled as she looked at Lucy. "We will be forever grateful to you and your kin."

Lucy wished she could pat Beechleaf's neck in friendship. "We could not have won without you and yours!"

A young otter cannonballed into the river, splashing Lucy and Beechleaf with cool water. Beechleaf stood up and shook the water from her coat like a dog, getting Lucy even wetter. Lucy decided to stand up and shake herself dry, too.

Once they'd both gotten settled back on the grass, Lucy asked, "How did you attack her castle?"

"The burrowing animals--moles and badgers and foxes--dug under the outer walls so the rest of us could make our entrance. Digging is a good tactic for us, I think -- you’ll recall we dug tunnels in the fields where we faced the Witch’s forces. The grasses have deep roots, enough that they look like a solid surface even with the soil removed, but anyone advancing over the ground will take a nasty fall… Where was I?”

“They dug under the walls.”

“Yes. So many of the other creatures rushed in after them--the wolves, wildcats, bears, wolverines, lions. My kin attempted to join the fray, but the deer without antlers mighn’t have been much help, and the ones with antlers struggled to pass through the tunnel. So it was our young bucks who entered the castle. Few of them came back out.”

Lucy gasped and held both hands over her heart.“That’s awful!”

Beechleaf inclined her head. “A few of us went in first as scouts. The others were meant to wait, but they were impatient and began to stream in after the advance party. We had not expected the Witch to have as many on her side as she did. Surprise was on their side. The wolves took down those who were already in the castle, then went into the tunnels. It was hard to flee in such a narrow space."

"I am so sorry!"

Beechleaf slowly nodded her head. "Many of us were loathe to try again."

They sat together in the quiet, watching the sun dip below the horizon.

"I hope you don't have to fight another battle," Lucy said.

"I am inclined to agree, but the leaders of most of the other species are prepared to if needs must. Perhaps gathering these stories has not been as helpful as your Majesties hoped. But myself and the others who remember our attempt against the Witch, and the Battle of Beruna, are developing new strategies."

"Perhaps we can make note of them tomorrow. Right now I feel I could die happy never hearing the word fight again!” Lucy half-laughed.

“I know first-hand, now, how tiring it is,” Beechleaf agreed. “Thank you for chronicling our history.”

Lucy took in the whole camp area: the handful of visitors’ tents, the main tent, the lights coming from all the houses and hidey-holes of the beasts around the camp. “I never want to stop learning about you, all of you. I can still hardly believe I’m a queen, but I want to try my best to be a good one!”

“You are the best queen,” Beechleaf said, inclining her head so it rested on top of Lucy’s. 

Lucy’s joke that Susan wouldn’t appreciate that caught in her throat. She patted Beechleaf’s neck with one hand and smiled. “Thank you.”

Together they watched the last orange rays of light illuminate the silvery river below. There would be another long day of recording stories the next day, but Lucy thought she could handle it with her friend by her side. 


End file.
